Time Frame
by MissLisaJade
Summary: Set sometime between The Xmas Invasion and School Reunion! The Doctor and Rose land in the 1960's but where an early experiment into Time Travel at Sussex University goes wrong!


I don't own Doctor Who (that would be the BBC...) and am not Russell T. Davis. I'm just a student... please don't sue me as I have nothing of value anyway... The Vortisaur is also not owned by me as it first appeared in the Doctor Who audio adventure "Storm Warning".

Thanks to all my friends for suffering me prattling on about Doctor Who and how gorgeous David Tennant is all the time and my housemates for suffering me pawning the TV every time there is ANYTHING Whofied on.

Special thanks to Paul: Paulio999/Paulio1983, Pheonixizme and Flick Angel and for being my Beta Readers. Please R&R and most of all... Enjoy!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose rolled over. She was waking up and could feel it but sleep was pulling her back into unconsciousness. She dozed for a few more moments before she started thinking and wanted to wake up and get moving. She opened her eyes, looking around her room.

Since joining The Doctor on his travels, Rose had taken up residence in one of the TARDIS' bedrooms. The Room was much like most of the rooms within the TARDIS: a large space with golden walls with hundreds of lights along them and organic looking beams running from the ceiling to the floor. The only difference was that The Doctor had put a double bed near the wall furthest away from the door (which despite looking old and battered was very comfortable) and had put a multitude of mismatched rugs over the cold, metal-grate floor.

The first time Rose had felt tired was after meeting Charles Dickens, Mr. Sneed and Gwyneth in 17th century Cardiff. She had asked The Doctor if there was anywhere she could get a few hours sleep.

"Of course!" He had said grinning and showed her to her room.

Because time didn't exist in the TARDIS, Rose had decided to just sleep when she was tired and wake up when she was ready. She told The Doctor he must wake her if there was anything exciting happening or anything he needed her for. He had not yet woken her in the time she had been travelling with him.

Rose didn't know if The Doctor slept. She had only ever seen him sleep after his regeneration when he had passed out near her block of flats after stepping out of the TARDIS in London at Christmas 2006. He had been known to disappear inside the TARDIS for a few hours at a time but the TARDIS was an almost infinite space so it did not necessarily mean he was sleeping.

The first time Rose had slept in her room in the TARDIS she had found the room noisy, as she could still hear the whirrs and groans that the time-space ship made. She also found the size and feel of the room intimidating and uncomfortable. Now, after having slept in the room countless times she found the room very comfortable. The Doctor had always told Rose that the TARDIS was alive and if it was, Rose imagined her room to be something like a womb. The noises the TARDIS made were now comforting and had become a kind of mechanical lullaby which she missed when she occasionally slept at home.

Rose got up and started walking to the wardrobe and bathroom to go and get dressed and ready for whatever the next few hours held for her and The Doctor.

Rose wondered some way down the corridor. She passed a door which was slightly ajar but catching sight of something moving inside she stopped and went back to see if it was The Doctor. Perhaps the door had only ever been closed and Rose had never noticed it before, but Rose could have sworn that there never used to be a room between her room and the bathroom.

Rose peeked through the crack to see another bedroom, similar to hers but smaller with another double bed in, this time in the centre of the room. She opened the door wider and went inside as she saw the covers on the bed move and heard a peaceful sigh. Poking out of the covers Rose could see The Doctor's face. He looked much more peaceful than he had lying in bed asleep after he had regenerated. His brown hair was messy and flopped over his face a little.

"So he does sleep!" Rose said out loud to herself.

"Yes I do sleep." The Doctor answered slightly groggily.

"I'm sorry! Did I wake you up?" Rose apologised

The Doctor smiled but didn't open his eyes, "You did, but don't worry about it."

"I'll leave you to get back to sleep then." Rose said starting to creep out of the room as quietly as she could.

But the Doctor opened his eyes and sat up, "No it's fine, I've had enough sleep." Rose turned around and saw The Doctor patting the bed, indicating for her to come and sit on it. She took the invitation and sat on the edge of The Doctor's bed. "Nice pyjamas," The Doctor mocked, teasing Rose about the pink-with-teddy-bears ensemble she sported.

Rose blushed and suddenly regretted her hasty packing. "Yeh, Mum got them in the market on the cheep." Rose quickly steered the conversation away from her slightly embarrassing attire. "I didn't know you slept… well other than after a regeneration that is."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes I do have to sleep a little. Although not nearly as much as humans. About 3 hours every week does me fine. You lot sleep half your lives away! What's the fun in that when there's always so much to see and do?"

"Well we can't help… Hey!" Rose suddenly exclaimed, "Aren't those the pyjamas Mum gave you when you were ill after your regeneration."

The Doctor looked down at his the stripy cotton pyjamas. "Yeh, I liked them."

"But they were Howard's!" Rose said but she suddenly wanted to stop talking about The Doctor's pyjamas as it led to questions over what Howard would wear next time he stayed over with her Mum. The idea of there being no pyjamas for her mother's boyfriend was too revolting to think about.

The Doctor shrugged "Well your Mum didn't ask for them back! Anyway I'm going for a shower." The Doctor said, leaving the room before Rose could argue with him.

Rose then made her own way to the showers. She picked up a towel and robe from a hook behind the door of the Bathroom and went into one of the shower cubicles. She could hear the water running and The Doctor humming a tune to himself in the next cubical and giggled to herself.

When Rose emerged from the shower she could no longer hear The Doctor. She dried herself off and wrapped the towel around her wet hair before putting the robe on, leaving the cubical and bathroom and going down the hallway again to the TARDIS' wardrobe.

She entered the wardrobe to see The Doctor doing up his tie in front of the mirror. She stood there for a moment before asking a question that was burning in the back of her mind. "Don't you ever get bored of wearing the same kind of thing?"

He turned around looking thoughtful as he put on his blazer. "Ummm no, not really."

"Don't you ever want to put on your old leather jacket and jumper?" she asked.

"Nope." He said simply before explaining his answer, "It's a little difficult to describe but when I regenerated my personality changed a little. It's still me fundamentally but as well as changing physically I also changed a little mentally, but only really in superficial ways." The Doctor glanced over to a rack where Rose saw The Doctor's old, now unworn, leather jacket. "It's not really to my taste anymore." The Doctor added and went back to adjusting his appearance in the mirror. "I'll see you in the control room, Rose." The Doctor said once he was happy with his appearance and left the wardrobe.

Rose went over to where the old leather jacket hung in the wardrobe and sighed. She felt a little sad to have lost the old Doctor but in the end The Doctor was always The Doctor, despite superficial changes and she loved this incarnation of The Doctor exactly the same as she had loved the previous incarnation.

Once fully dressed, Rose made her way towards the control room. She could feel the floor shaking and guessed that The Doctor must be landing the TARDIS as, when in flight and dematerialised, Rose usually never felt the machine was moving at all.

Entering the control room, Rose was greeted by spectacle of The Doctor, dancing around the control panel with the usual mania that accompanied flying his ship.

"Where to?" she inquired.

He replied much more simply than she wanted "Earth." There was a slight thud and some more whirring. The Doctor looked up with a grin: They had landed. Before Rose could inquire further The Doctor flew out the door of the TARDIS doors, his long, brown coat almost catching in the door as he closed it.

"HEY!" Rose cried after him "Wait for me!"

Rose knew The Doctor wouldn't go too far without her and found him examining something that looked like the TARDIS which they seemed to have landed next to.

"Is that a real Police Box?" Rose asked.

The Doctor turned and smiled at her "Yeh… funny old girl is the TARDIS." He said patting his machine "She must have spied the real Police Box and wanted company. Anyway, let's be off."

The Doctor put his hands in the pockets of his overcoat and began walking down the street. Rose followed.

"So where on Earth are we." She asked, desperately trying to gleam more information from him.

The Doctor looked around "I'm not exactly sure, couldn't quite make out from the TARDIS' readouts when we landed. Somewhere in the south though…"

"London?" Rose suggested hopefully. "It's a while now since I've seen Mum and Mickey." But Rose knew the answer as, if they were in London it was not any part of London that she recognised.

"Don't think so." Answered The Doctor. "And anyway your Mum would only be a kid: We're in the '60s from the looks of things."

Rose took a proper look around for the first time. The cars all looked different and there were less of them on the roads. The shop signs were also different: there were none of the required "McDonalds" and "Tesco" of all major town high-streets.

The Doctor turned into a grocery shop and began browsing the stock. Rose followed, yet again trying to ascertain what The Doctor was planning. "So what are we doing here then? Big monsters to defeat? A world to save?"

"Close, but not quite." replied The Doctor "More milk and tea bags to stock the TARDIS kitchen up with. You got any money?"

Rose sighed, "Do you still not have any money on you? How many times do we end up on Earth? Why don't you just keep a tenner in one of your pockets?"

"There's no more room in my pockets! Next place we're going doesn't have cows or tea so I thought I'd stop off here. Do you have some money or not?"

Rose sighed and withdrew her purse from her jeans. She opened it and handed the Doctor a five pound note. The Doctor selected a pint of milk and some tea bags. He then left the money on the counter, not waiting for change, and left the shop putting the milk and tea bags into his large coat pockets. The Doctor was walking quickly and Rose had to trot to keep up.

"Slow down." she panted

The Doctor shook his head, "We need to get some distance between us and that shop before the shop keeper realises."

Right on cue, the shop keeper started shouting after them: "Bloody foreigners. We don't take your funny money here! Come back here! Thieves!"

The Doctor began to run and Rose tried to keep up. "But we paid him! What's he talking about?"

"Let's go in here." The Doctor said and Rose followed him into a pub. Once they were safely inside the Doctor turned to Rose, his big brown eyes staring seriously at her. "Rose, you gave me money from the beginning of the 21st centaury and this is the 1960's. The money is different."

"So why did you ask me for money then? You knew I'd have the wrong type!"

The Doctor turned to the bar, "Yeh, well I thought it would be better than _actually_ stealing it." He then spoke to the barman. "a pint of ale and… what's it for you Rose?"

"Gin and Tonic." Rose added.

"Put it on my tab." The Doctor told the bar tender with a wink to Rose

The Doctor and Rose took their drinks to a table where a man already sat.

"We'll lie low here for a bit before venturing back to the TARDIS." The Doctor said in a whisper to Rose.

The pair were enjoying their drinks when the man at the end of their table spoke up. "Jelly Baby?" he asked, in a deep voice, holding a brown paper bag out to them.

The Doctor gave a quizzical look but Rose took a sweet from the bag. "Thanks very much!"

The man smiled. He had short, brown curly hair and was wearing a slightly scruffy suit with leather patches on the elbows. "I'm The Doctor." He said holding a handshake out to the other Doctor, who raised an eyebrow. "Doctor Christopher Zebedee: Professor of Physics at Sussex University." The man clarified

The Doctor seemed more satisfied and took the man's hand. "I'm… um…. Also The Doctor and this is Rose Tyler."

Doctor Zebedee took Rose's hand and kissed it. "Charmed to meet you Ms. Tyler." He added. Rose was a little taken back and blushed a little. Doctor Zebadee then turned back to The Doctor. "What exactly are you a Doctor of sir?"

"Well…" The Doctor began but screwed up his face. Rose could see he was trying to think of an easy way to explain himself. "Many things really."

"Ah! A lifelong academic! You do look a little young to have achieved one doctorate, let alone more."

"I've aged well" The Doctor replied simply.

Rose couldn't have agreed more.

Doctor Zebedee nodded approvingly. "I wonder Doctor, What do you know of Quantum Physics?"

The Doctor smiled "I know enough."

"More specifically, Doctor, what do you know about the theory of time travel."

Rose was a little worried. Did this Professor know that she was from the future? If he did then would it cause them problems. The last time she and The Doctor had changed something in the past there had been dire consequences. The disruption had allowed Reapers into their time stream and the whole of time had been threatened. She had almost ended the world. Rose shivered with the thought so pushed it to the back of her mind.

"That happens to be one of my specialties." Said the Time Lord, giving one of his usual toothy grins.

"Really!" said Doctor Zebedee, who began leaning closer and whispering excitedly, "I have been conducting some experiments and believe I may have constructed a machine, in my laboratory at the university, that should open a time portal. I call it the "Time Frame" as a bit of a joke really. Of course it's all based on theoretical evidence but I was planning on testing out tomorrow. You are more than welcome to watch the first experiment. Although I warn you not to be too excited, nothing at all may happen."

The Doctor turned to his companion, "What do you say Rose? Up for going to the University to see this experiment?"

Rose, who had been going off into a daze, stirring her mixing stick around empty glass absent-mindedly, pretended to be interested,. "Yeh! Wouldn't miss it for the world" She said slightly sarcastically.

"Listen," The Doctor said whispering excitedly, in the same way Zebedee had, "don't suppose you could do a preliminary experiment tonight could you?" Zebedee said that it wouldn't be possible but The Doctor persisted. "Oh please? Please, please, please?" He began, sounding somewhat like a child who wants something from a toy shop. "Rose and I have to be off by tomorrow."

Rose raised an eyebrow. The Doctor was lying – they had all the time in the world. If he wanted to (and if could get the TARDIS to work properly) he could even travel forward to tomorrow. However, she could see that Zebedee liked The Doctor and was considering moving the trial forward. She had always thought that The Doctor had an incredible way of getting people to like and trust him.

"Oh OK, OK!" said Zebedee finally giving in. "My Mini is parked a few streets away." Zebedee had now become visibly excited as he finished the pint of ale he had been drinking and pulled a jacket on. The Doctor did the same and Rose followed the two Doctors out of the pub.

"History in the making Rose!" The Doctor whispered excitedly to his companion once Zebedee was far enough in front of them not to hear.

Rose didn't share the Doctor's enthusiasm "There was a reason why I didn't go to University and an even better reason why I failed my GCSE Science. And anyway Doctor, we both know that time travel wasn't invented in the 1960's." she whispered back.

The Doctor shrugged "Well… you never know." He said, "Anyway will be fun to watch a primitive time experiment like that."

"Yeh, barrel of laughs I'm sure!" Rose uttered sarcastically.

Rose and The Doctor piled into Doctor Zebedee's car and drove to the university. By the time they arrived the sun was setting. Many of the university's study buildings were silent and dark. But the student residential blocks were anything but silent. From many of them came the sound of rock music and general party-noises and Rose would have liked to join in. She could see The Doctor was excited about the experiment but decided that she would ask if she could go and join in with whatever festivities were happening after the experiment was over and done with.

Zebedee led The Doctor and Rose into a building, up some stairs and down a corridor until they reached a door with Doctor Zebedee's name on it. He unlocked the door and led them in, turning on lights as he entered. The Doctor immediately went over to a large contraption in one corner of the room, removing his glasses from a pocket and placing them on his face in order to study it more closely. Rose took a look around the rest of the room.

"Impressive." The Doctor muttered more to himself than anyone else. Rose knew that when The Doctor got his hands on technology, he was in his own little world.

The Time Frame looked like a large metal frame with different coloured wires winding their way around it and switches messily soldered on to the wires. The wires were connected two huge car-batteries which stood either side of the frame.

"You approve then Doctor?" Asked Zebedee proudly.

The Doctor turned away from the contraption and nodded "The theory is sound. It should enable you to access the Time Vortex."

Rose turned "What like the thing in…"

But the Doctor cut her off, anticipating that she may say something which could reveal something about the TARDIS that Zebedee shouldn't hear. "So what are we waiting for?" The Doctor asked.

Zebedee smiled and began flicking switches. The machine began to hum and whirr to life. The Doctor looked on, grinning from ear to ear and even Rose was a little impressed.

Suddenly lightning crackled within the frame and a portal was revealed; the Time Vortex, swirling from within the Time Frame. Simultaneously a large wind seemed to be generated from the Vortex. Papers on the various surfaces in Zebedee's laboratory were blown about and glass instruments were smashed. Zebedee, The Doctor and Rose had to cling on to stop them from being blown away.

"Turn it off!" The Doctor yelled at Zebedee over the howling Time Wind.

Zebedee nodded and began moving closer to the frame by grabbing onto any fixed object in order to pull himself forwards. As he made his way to the Time Frame something was shot through the Vortex Portal. It was some kind of creature and it screeched loudly as it flapped wildly around the room, breaking yet more instruments. After its second lap of the room it dived for Zebedee, It's claws digging into his scalp.

Rose cried out as Doctor Zebedee fell and lost his gripping, being blown to the other side of the room and knocked out. Then the creature made for a window, broke through and was gone.

Rose began making her way to Zebedee to try and help him but then the time wind turned and began sucking everything into the portal. Rose screamed as she and The Doctor were lifted off her feet by the wind. They still clung tightly, Rose to the spout of a tap with a long, curved neck and the Doctor to the handle of a cabinet.

But Zebedee, who was still unconscious was pulled towards the Vortex and sucked through. As Zebedee went through the frame, into the Vortex the wind subsided slightly and The Doctor was able to make his way towards the contraption and rip a wire which connected the battery to the frame. The Vortex cracked into disappearance and the wind subsided and then stopped.

"You ok?" The Doctor asked his companion.

Rose brushed some broken glass out of her hair, "Only a few minor cuts," she said touching her face where one such cut was and looking at the blood on her finger. "You?"

The Doctor nodded, he seemed to have miraculously escaped with no injuries at all.

"But what about Doctor Zebedee?"

The Doctor sighed and looked sombre. "Rose, once someone is sucked into the Time Vortex there's no way of getting them back. Without a Dimensional Stabiliser there is no concept of space or time in the Time Vortex - you don't have a fixed position."

"So there's nothing we can do?" Rose asked

"No," The Doctor replied "But we do need to find that creature and return it to the Time Vortex. There's no telling what it will do." The Doctor peered out of the broken window but the creature was long gone.

It was still night when The Doctor and Rose began searching the sea front. It was the summer so the air was warm but the harsh, wind from the sea still made Rose thankful that she had decided to wear a jacket when they had left the TARDIS. The Doctor sat down on the stony beach for a rest. They had been walking since dusk and it was now late at night.

"So what do we do now?" Rose asked the Doctor.

The Doctor shrugged "We _have_ to find that thing. It's dangerous and some Time Lord instinct makes me think there will be drastic consequences if I allow it to stay in 1960's Brighton."

Rose lay back on the stones with a sigh. "But it could be anywhere! How are we going to find it?"

"I don't know." The Doctor sighed.

There was a pause of silence between the two time travellers.

"So what was that Time Vortex thing anyway? Is that the same thing as what's inside the TARDIS console?"

The Doctor looked pleased to get back to a discussion involving two of his favourite subjects: The physics of time travel and the TARDIS. "Not exactly," He began. "The Time Vortex is what we travel through to get to different times and places. It's almost like the tunnel that gets the TARDIS to where it's going to and Doctor Zebedee managed to break through the barriers of the current time stream and make a window into it."

Rose nodded as she tried to take this information in. "So if it was the tunnels of the London Underground the TARDIS would be the train?"

"Yes!" The Doctor said grinning, "So we stop at different stations which are different places and times. But if you went into the Underground tunnels without being on a train you would get lost. That is, of course, if you didn't get electrocuted or run over first."

"Poor Doctor Zebedee, he was such a nice man." Rose muttered.

The Doctor continued. "The thing under the TARDIS console is actually called the "Time Vortex Excess Energy Collection Unit" but it's obviously abbreviated to the Time Vortex – which is a little confusing sometimes. Travelling through the Vortex generates lots of different kinds of energy waste which is compressed and collected under TARDIS' console. The compressed energy turns into pure psycho-telepathic energy which powers the TARDIS and is _very dangerous in its raw state_." The Doctor emphasised these last words and gave a stern, meaningful look at Rose.

"OK! Sorry! I only looked into it to try and help you!" She replied defensively "So the TARDIS generates its own fuel by travelling?"

The Doctor nodded "Yeh! Better than having to refuel all the time. Means we never have to stop. Well, except of course if we need some more teabags and milk."

For the next few moments the Time Lord and his companion lay on the stony beach listening to the waves.

The silence was soon interrupted. "Oi!" Came a cry from nearby. The Doctor and Rose sat up to see where the voice had come form. "Oi! Mod! What are ya doin' on our patch?"

The two time travellers stood up and were confronted by a large group of well built men in leather jackets.

"Good evening." The Doctor said smiling amiably in spite of the mean look on the gang's faces. "How can I help you lads."

The gang members looked at each other, a little confused. "You're a Mod and this is our turf!"

"I'm sorry? A what?" Rose asked the gang. The Doctor was yet again impressed by her bravery.

The Doctor turned to his companion. "A Mod." He then explained "See there were two gangs in the 1960's: The Mods and the Rockers. They hated each other and used to go down to the beaches in Brighton and have fights. They must be Rockers from the look of their jeans and leather jackets and Mods… well Mods looked a little like how I'm dressed!" The Doctor smiled with sudden realisation. "Gosh I'd never thought about that! Isn't that interesting?"

Rose frowned "But if they think you're a Mod then shouldn't we be running now?"

The Doctor looked thoughtful. Meanwhile the Rockers were kept back by the strange and confusing conversation The Doctor and Rose were having. "Yes probably." The Doctor said simply.

Rose led the way and The Doctor followed. The Rockers soon re-gained their composure and ran after The Doctor.

Rose headed towards the lights of the pier but the gang of Rockers were gaining on The Doctor. Rose made it under the pier and turned just in time to see the Doctor being caught up and attacked by the gang of Rockers.

"Doctor!" she screamed after him.

Rose could see the gang kicking and punching The Doctor but didn't know what to do. Once she regained her composure she ran back to try and help The Doctor. But before she could make it to where the gang was beating-up The Doctor something swooped down from the sky. It dived in between the gang members, making for The Doctor. The gang was startled and quickly dispersed, frightened away by the creature.

Rose got the first decent look at the creature. It was vulture-like in looks but had no feathers and scaly bat-like wings. Its skin was brown with a white stripe down it's back and it had a light blue beak. The creature began trying to peck at The Doctor, but despite being a little bloodied The Doctor was conscious and withdrew his sonic screwdriver from his pocket. He pointed it at the bird-like creature whilst simultaneously trying to bat it away with his other hand. The Doctor flicked the switch and the sonic screwdriver began to glow blue, making its familiar buzzing sound. The bird gave a loud squawk and retreated as if it had been burned by something. It whizzed over Rose's head and took shelter under the pier.

Rose ran over to The Doctor and helped him from the floor. He had a bloody nose but that was the only injury she could see.

The Doctor clutched his chest "Probably cracked a rib," he muttered to himself. He then touched his nose and winced. "Smart's a bit but at least my nose isn't broken." He said far more cheerfully than Rose would have been able to be had she been given a bloody nose and a cracked rib. "Where did that creature head to? Was it the same thing that came out of the Vortex?"

Rose nodded "I think so," she replied helping The Doctor to walk towards the pier even though he seemed as though he didn't need it "Are you ok?"

"It takes more than a gang of Rockers to defeat this Time Lord." The Doctor said proudly.

A creak came above Rose and The Doctor's head which was quickly accompanied by a squawk. The creature was looking down at them, clinging to the underside of the pier, its claws scratching against the metal structure of the pier.

Rose was startled and moved in closer to The Doctor. "It's a Vortisaur," he whispered to his companion. "That must be what came through the portal. They feed off Time glitches like these, and it must have been shot into this time stream whilst trying to eat." The Doctor then spoke to the Vortisaur "Here boy!" he said and began making kissing noises, the kind you would make to call a cat to you. He lifted up his sleeve and exposed his arm, which had a cut on it from the fight. The Doctor lifted it up for the Vortisaur to see.

Rose looked at the Doctor and raised an eyebrow. "Doctor, is that a good idea?"

The Vortisaur slowly began climb down the metal stilts that held the pier up. "It's fairly harmless. It's just frightened and out of its environment. Some Time Lord blood should pacify it."

The creature then took a leap and landed on The Doctors shoulder. The Doctor gave a wince as it seemed to be sinking its claws through his heavy coat and into his skin which was already bruised form the fight. The creature leaned over to where the cut on The Doctor's arm was and began licking the blood from it.

Rose shuddered and backed away.

"It can taste the time distortion in my blood. Now all we need to do is catch it, get it to the TARDIS and then release it into the Time Vortex." The Doctor suddenly had an idea. "Rose help me get my coat off." He said to her.

The Doctor set the Vortisaur down on the stones of the Brighton beach and pulled his arm away. Rose helped The Doctor out of his coat. Having never held the coat, It was heavier then she anticipated and very soft inside. Meanwhile the Vortisaur waited for another snack on The Doctor's blood, squawking impatiently.

The Doctor bent down and allowed the Vortisaur to resume drinking his blood from the cut on his arm but whispered to Rose: "On the count of three, throw it over his head and pin him down." Rose nodded. "One…." She readied herself with the coat. "Two…." She crouched lower in order to get a better shot at the creature "THREE!" Cried The Doctor and on his command Rose threw the coat over the creature landing on top of it to prevent it from getting away.

Rose had to use all her strength to pin the coat down with the Vortisaur beneath it. The Doctor helped and after a few moments the creatures struggling lessened and the Doctor was able to pick it up and grasp one end of the coat so it could be held like a bag.

The Doctor and Rose found the TARDIS where they had left it, standing next to the real Police Box on the high-street. The busy street was silent now as it was the middle of the night. Rose held the coat with the Vortisaur in as The Doctor unlocked the door of his beloved time ship.

The Doctor ran straight over to the console and began flicking switches; powering the TARDIS up.

"You can let him out if you like Rose, just make sure all the doors are shut. If you let him out of the control room we'll never find him again."

Rose allowed the Vortisaur free. It flew around the TARDIS' central column.

The Doctor looked up at the creature and smiled "He seems happier in here." He said and then pulled a leaver on the control panel. The TARDIS made its familiar groaning sound and de-materialised.

The Doctor went over to the front door of the TARDIS. "Hold on to something Rose." The Doctor said, grasping the handle of the doors. Rose grasped hold of the control panel and The Doctor flung the door open. Once again the Time Wind blew, Rose and The Doctor holding on tight for fear of being sucked out into it. Rose could see the same swirling Time Vortex she saw in the Time Frame in Doctor Zebedee's lab. The Vortisaur happily zipped through the door and out of sight, into oblivion.

The Doctor slammed the door tight leaning back on it, relieved.

He looked up at his companion and smiled. "Time for a break. How about we go back and get a chance to properly enjoy the Brighton seaside."

"Doctor, I didn't know whether you wanted chocolate or strawberry so I got one of each and whichever you don't want I'll have." Rose said as she approached the spot her and The Doctor had found, an ice cream cone in either hand.

He was sitting in a deck chair his reading glasses on, a book in hand and his back to Rose. But when he didn't respond Rose went around the front of the deck chair and giggled at the sight she was greeted with. The Doctor was asleep, glasses half-falling off his face, and a copy of "The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy" slipping from his hands.

Rose leaned close to The Doctor's face. She could feel his deep, sleepy breathing on her face.

"OI!" she said loudly in his face.

The Doctor jolted awake, dropping his book, his glasses crooked against his sleepy eyes. Rose laughed harder as The Doctor wrinkled his nose and straightened the thick, plastic, tortoiseshell specs.

"Ok so when I said I only need 3 hours a week, it didn't mean I wouldn't like more sleep." He said defensively.


End file.
